Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #9
Writer: Kyle Higgins
Artist: Hendry Prasetya
Colourist: Matt Herms
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
In the previous issue, with the command center destroyed, Billy kidnapped and their powers gone, Jason and Tommy, still in possession of his dragon powers, staged a daring assault on Rita’s moon palace. Unfortunately for them, the Black Dragon is there to meet them, taking on Jason in the Dragonzord while Tommy attempts to sneak in and rescue Billy. Their efforts are in vain, however, as the Black Dragon easily overpowers the Dragonzord, forcing them to retreat empty handed. Back at their temporary base in the pocket dimension, Trini picks up a weird signal coming from the command center’s ruins, patching it through their computers to discover that it is Alpha, still operating but running out of power. Tommy and Jason return as Alpha explains that the Black Dragon used Billy’s power coin to strip them of their powers, Tommy’s being spared as he accesses the Morphin’ Grid in a slightly different way. Realizing that he may be able to do the same thing in reverse, Tommy gets the other Rangers to try and morph through his dragon coin, stripping him of his powers but allowing them to transform into Green Rangers.
This issue begins as Rita’s countdown to the destruction of the world reaches its end. Just as the Zords are about to attack, the Rangers, now all green, arrive to take them back, forcing the Black Dragon to grow and engage them. In the Dark Dimension, Billy talks with sees the battle as it’s happening thanks to Goldar’s control of the Dark Dimension. After seeing an access panel on the Black Dragon’s neck, Billy realizes that the Black Dragon’s body isn’t real, it is simply a Zord. Convincing Goldar to release him by playing on his hatred of the Black Dragon, Billy escapes and runs to Tommy, explaining to him about the Black Dragon, and they both jump onto his body, entering the access hatch. As the Rangers continue to hold off the Black Dragon, Tommy and Billy locate his power source, destroying it but getting caught inside as the monster begins to shrink down. Fearing for their friends, the other Rangers tear the shell open, revealing Tommy and Billy to be gone, as well as discovering the inside of the Black Dragon uses the same components as the Dragonzord. I enjoyed this issue a lot, it had a good mixture of action and plot, with Billy avoiding the fighting all together but still managing to save the day.
I don’t have much to say the art, the book basically looks like the previous issues. There was a particular character design that shows up near the end of this issue that was particularly interesting, melding components of other characters we’ve seen in the show and the comics together, but the artwork in general is still good and the action is still fluid.
As a bit of an ending to what was essentially the first major arc of the book, ignoring the previous arc of mostly set up, I thought that this issue delivered in several ways. It’s good to see Billy playing to his strengths of intelligence and critical thinking, all the buildup to the main confrontation with what ends up being the Black Dragon’s shell pays off as the Rangers are forced to use their brains instead of their powers, and it was nice to see the two Rangers who currently are without powers be the ones to really make a difference. I’ve been really enjoying the series so far, and this issue is no exception. From what we saw at the end of this issue, it looks like what is yet to come is just as exciting.
Artist: Hendry Prasetya
Colourist: Matt Herms
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
In the previous issue, with the command center destroyed, Billy kidnapped and their powers gone, Jason and Tommy, still in possession of his dragon powers, staged a daring assault on Rita’s moon palace. Unfortunately for them, the Black Dragon is there to meet them, taking on Jason in the Dragonzord while Tommy attempts to sneak in and rescue Billy. Their efforts are in vain, however, as the Black Dragon easily overpowers the Dragonzord, forcing them to retreat empty handed. Back at their temporary base in the pocket dimension, Trini picks up a weird signal coming from the command center’s ruins, patching it through their computers to discover that it is Alpha, still operating but running out of power. Tommy and Jason return as Alpha explains that the Black Dragon used Billy’s power coin to strip them of their powers, Tommy’s being spared as he accesses the Morphin’ Grid in a slightly different way. Realizing that he may be able to do the same thing in reverse, Tommy gets the other Rangers to try and morph through his dragon coin, stripping him of his powers but allowing them to transform into Green Rangers.
This issue begins as Rita’s countdown to the destruction of the world reaches its end. Just as the Zords are about to attack, the Rangers, now all green, arrive to take them back, forcing the Black Dragon to grow and engage them. In the Dark Dimension, Billy talks with sees the battle as it’s happening thanks to Goldar’s control of the Dark Dimension. After seeing an access panel on the Black Dragon’s neck, Billy realizes that the Black Dragon’s body isn’t real, it is simply a Zord. Convincing Goldar to release him by playing on his hatred of the Black Dragon, Billy escapes and runs to Tommy, explaining to him about the Black Dragon, and they both jump onto his body, entering the access hatch. As the Rangers continue to hold off the Black Dragon, Tommy and Billy locate his power source, destroying it but getting caught inside as the monster begins to shrink down. Fearing for their friends, the other Rangers tear the shell open, revealing Tommy and Billy to be gone, as well as discovering the inside of the Black Dragon uses the same components as the Dragonzord. I enjoyed this issue a lot, it had a good mixture of action and plot, with Billy avoiding the fighting all together but still managing to save the day.
I don’t have much to say the art, the book basically looks like the previous issues. There was a particular character design that shows up near the end of this issue that was particularly interesting, melding components of other characters we’ve seen in the show and the comics together, but the artwork in general is still good and the action is still fluid.
As a bit of an ending to what was essentially the first major arc of the book, ignoring the previous arc of mostly set up, I thought that this issue delivered in several ways. It’s good to see Billy playing to his strengths of intelligence and critical thinking, all the buildup to the main confrontation with what ends up being the Black Dragon’s shell pays off as the Rangers are forced to use their brains instead of their powers, and it was nice to see the two Rangers who currently are without powers be the ones to really make a difference. I’ve been really enjoying the series so far, and this issue is no exception. From what we saw at the end of this issue, it looks like what is yet to come is just as exciting.
A Look Inside
